IT and coal

According to the 2011 Greenpeace report, "How Dirty is Your Data?", data centres housing virtual information currently consume 1.5-2% of all global electricity, use that is growing at a rate of 12% a year.

Coal footprint of large IT companies
Looking at some of the largest IT companies - Amazon.com (Amazon Web Services), Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo - a 2011 Greenpeace report found that over half of the companies rely on coal for between 50% and 80% of their energy needs, according to publicly available data. Specifically, the report rated the following "coal intensity" values for the companies, based upon estimates of power demand and the type of power used for the companies' data centers:


 * Amazon.com - 28.5%
 * Apple - 54.5%
 * Facebook - 53.2%
 * Google- 34.7%
 * HP - 49.4%
 * IBM - 51.6%
 * Microsoft - 34.1%
 * twitter - 42.5%
 * Yahoo - 18.3%

Facebook and coal
It was announced in January 2010 that the popular social networking site Facebook would build its first data center in the eastern Oregon town of Prineville. The 147,000 square foot facility will cost approximately $200 million. It will be the first data center Facebook has built. The plant would provide jobs to the economically depressed town. However, critics claim that the plant's need for electricity will be substantial, pointing out that Prineville's utility company PacifiCorp generates the majority of its power by coal-firing."

A Facebook group titled "Get Facebook off Coal" has drawn over 8,000 thousands of members as of late February 2010. Another group by the name of "We want Facebook to use 100% renewable energy" has also accumulated over 12,000 members as of February 25, 2010. Campaigners that oppose Facebook's decision to build a plant hope that pressure from Facebook users could force the company to reconsider its decision to power the facility by burning coal.

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 * Google Renewable Energy Cheaper Than Coal initiative
 * Gore zero-carbon proposal
 * Opposition to existing coal plants
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 * Greenpeace